Lebron James was a FA. And took 2-3 weeks to make his decision and signed a contract. Nothing out of the ordinary there.

This dickhead signed a contract a month ago and it was rejected, and since then they can't figure this out and resolve it. It's as if the league can't figure out what contract is valid anymore. Didn't they give him a modified contract almost two weeks ago? It's taken this long for the league to figure this out.

What a joke. Watch, the NHLPA will appeal whatever the decision.

NBA has more of a circus environment when good players are about to be free agents, now Melo
its not really the contract, but the uncertainty and the me first attitude of some players

NBA has more of a circus environment when good players are about to be free agents, see: Melo

I'm not disgreeing about the circus.

What i'm saying is he signed a contract a month ago and the league deemed nul because they tried to circumvent the CBA. I agree with them, but WTF is taking so long to resolve the second contract offer? You mean to tell me they can't resolve this within a few days? A month after the original contract it's still unresolved. That's just stupid, and why the NHL is looked at by many as a joke. Bettman is a complete tool!

The Oilers made a coaching change following last year's dismal campaign, moving coach Pat Quinn into a front-office role and bumping associate coach Tom Renney up to head coach. Renney then brought in former Swiss national team coach Ralph Krueger as an associate coach. Then, with the prize selection at June's entry draft, the Oilers used the top pick to select Windsor Spitfires' sniper Taylor Hall -- their franchise player of the future -- and a young star who will most definitely battle for a spot on the team right away. The Oilers also signed 35-year-old netminder Martin Gerber as an insurance policy on their existing three goalies, bringing the Swiss keeper back to this side of the pond after a one year KHL sojourn. The extra insurance between the pipes became necessary when incumbent number one Nikolai Khabibulin was sentenced to a minimum 30-days in jail after being found guilty in an Arizona court on speeding and DUI charges. In other dealings, the Oilers gave restricted free agent forward Gilbert Brule a two-year contract, rewarding the 23-year-old for the best season of his NHL career and also re-upped Sam Ganger with a two-year deal of his own. Edmonton then gutted their underachieving roster that finished dead last, shedding Ethan Moreau, Mike Comrie, Patrick O'Sullivan, Ryan Stone, Chris Minard, Robert Nilsson, Marc Pouliot and Riley Nash.

Biggest issue facing the team:

Although there is plenty of reasons for optimism in the one-time “City of Champions”, make no mistake, the Oilers are not going to be a very good hockey team once again this season. The silver lining is that the team will give their young players as much ice time to develop as they need.
The Oilers biggest objective going into the season is to allow ‘uber-prospects' Hall, Jordan Eberle, Magnus Paajvari (after dropping the additional Svensson surname) and Linus Omark to get their feet wet at the NHL level and hopefully by the end of the season they will be rewarded for their faith in the youth movement. That being said attempting to break in that many youngsters at the same time means that there will be some very long nights this season for the team as the losses pile up. The club will be forced to take their lumps along the way, assuming they stay the course and don't panic in an attempt to win right away, if they do so the Oilers will see dividends likely as early as next season. In the meantime Oilers fans can sit back and watch a young team develop, safe in the knowledge that the rebuilding effort is in full swing.

Player to watch:

It became clear last season that Jordan Eberle had absolutely nothing left to prove in Junior hockey. Eberle first rose to prominence by helping lead Canada to gold at the 2008 U-18 World Championship and then etched his name in the Canadian hockey history books by scoring the tying goal with under five seconds left in the semi-final game at the 2009 IIHF World Junior Championship.
For an encore Eberle returned to the World Junior tournament this past January, and led an improbable Canadian comeback once again in the gold medal game; scoring twice in the final three minutes to force overtime. While Canada would eventually lose in OT, it was clear that a star had been born. Eberle was named the top forward and Most Valuable player of the tournament as Canada claimed silver. His play earned him an invite by Mark Messier to join Canada's team at the 2010 World Hockey championship in Germany. Despite his young age and diminutive size, Eberle proved that he belonged with the best in the World and earned player of the game honours in a rout of Norway.
Eberle is clearly ready for a new challenge and has been earmarked for a spot on one of the Oilers top two lines this season. He will be given a very long leash by Oilers brass and will be given every opportunity to flourish. With all the ice time he can handle, a Calder Trophy may well be on the horizon for the Regina native.

The Isles re-signed Matt Moulson and Rob Schremp while buying out defenceman Brendan Witt. It took much longer than expected but eventually captain Doug Weight put pen to paper and agreed to a one-year contract extension. Nino Niederreiter was drafted fifth overall while Mark Eaton, Zenon Kenopka and Jon Sim were signed as a free agents. James Wisniewski was acquired from the salary cap strapped Ducks. While the Isles sniffed around Ilya Kovalchuk for a bit, that deal never materialized and it was a very quiet summer in Long Island.

Biggest issue facing the team:

It is generally not a very good sign for an NHL team when your highest paid player is currently playing in Russia. Yes the Isles will be paying Alexei Yashin over $4.7 million this season to not play for them. The good news is that after this season there is only four years left on his deal…wait that's not very good news at all. While the Isles have not lost any significant pieces from last year's team they have not exactly added too many impact players to a team that finished 13th in the East, struggled with offense and is by an large comprised of third and fourth line players. Should John Tavares go through a sophomore slump or should Moulson's 30 goal tally prove to be just an aberration, then the Islanders are going to be in a lot of trouble. Maybe they can convince Yashin to abandon SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL and return to New York to inject some much needed offensive pop to a team in desperate need of it. On second thought, maybe Yashin is fine right where he is.

Player to watch:

After missing out on a Calder Trophy nomination last season, John Tavares is looking to break out offensively this campaign the same way Steven Stamkos did during his sophomore season. Tavares is far and away the most talented offensive player on the Isles, however he does not have a great deal of help around him, and when he went through lengthy goal-scoring droughts, there was no one to pick up the slack. Although Mark Streit is a legitimate power play quarterback, New York is largely lacking in wingers who know how to put the biscuit in the basket. While Moulson's 30 goals was an extremely pleasant surprise, many do not believe that he can accomplish the feat again. Budding power forward Kyle Okposo has not developed as quickly as the team would undoubtedly like. Youngsters such as Frans Nielsen, Blake Comeau and Josh Bailey all made strides in the right direction in their first full NHL seasons; however it is clear that this team will live and die with the offensive talents of the ‘John John Phenomenon.'
Fortunately for New York, Tavares is a remarkable talent that has been able to pile up points wherever he goes. In one year's time we will likely be saying his name in the same hushed tones reserved for the truly elite talents in the game. Until then he will face one of his toughest ever tests as he attempts to drag this once proud franchise back to credibility.

After firing coach Ken Hitchcock during the season and having Claude Noel finish it as interim coach the Blue Jackets brought in an entirely new coaching staff in June. They turned to Scott Arniel, head coach of the AHL's Manitoba Moose, who chose assistant coaches Dan Hinote, Brad Berry, and Bob Boughner, who is coming of back-to-back Memorial Cups with the Windsor Spitfires.

While the coaching staff is new, the Columbus roster hasn't changed much. The Jackets picked up Ethan Moreau off waivers from the Oilers, and although he is expected to play on the third line, the team wants Moreau to be a vocal leader, awakening their solemn dressing room. The arrival of left winger Nikita Filatov in Columbus six weeks before camp has the Jackets hoping that the dynamic Russian prospect is ready to kick off his NHL career for good this time. After clashing with Hitchcock and some Columbus teammates while playing up with the Jackets, Filatov was transferred on loan to CSKA Moscow in the KHL and would need to repair some relationships if he sticks with the team this season. After a good year in Moscow last season there is reason to believe Filatov has the potential to play on one of the top two lines in Columbus this season. Anton Stralman earned a bigger contract over the summer after a solid year on defense, and now he has to live up to the expectations that come with it.

Biggest issue facing the team:

Finding consistency will be key for the Blue Jackets this season under the new coaching staff. The club had a record of 41-31-10 during the ‘08-09 season and made its first playoff appearance in franchise history. Yet, the Jackets followed that up with a 32-35-15 record last season, missing the playoffs and finishing last in the division, second last in the conference. The Blue Jackets sunk to 20th in the league in scoring last season, netting just 214 goals. Rick Nash's production dipped a little too, as he went from 40 goals and 79 points in ‘08-09 to 33 goals and 67 points in '09-10. The defense was shaky last season, and the club was outshot in 45 of its 82 games, where the year before, that happened in just 32 games. Not helping matters was the play of Steve Mason. The reliable starting goaltender, who had been so spectacular two years ago, simply wasn't the same game-changer last season, and he will need to regain that edge this year.

Player to watch:

Goaltender Steve Mason had a stellar rookie season in 2008-09, winning 33 games and earning an NHL-leading 10 shutouts with a 2.29 goals-against average. He won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year. Mason was the biggest reason the Blue Jackets earned their first trip to the playoffs that year, but he suffered a real sophomore slump in the 2009-10 season, dipping to just 20 wins and a 3.06 GAA. The defense in front of him was often very ineffective as well. The Jackets' hopes this season rest largely on Mason proving that his play last season was simply a brief aberration.